The veteran forward scored 17 points with six rebounds and Travon Woodall
added 12 points and 10 assists, as the 17th-ranked Panthers overcame an
off shooting night from star guard Ashton Gibbs to down La Salle, 73-69.

Playing for the first time since seeing its 58-game home-court non-conference
winning streak snapped against Long Beach State, the Panthers were on the
ropes again, leading by a tenuous margin for nearly the entire second half.

Dante Taylor added 11 points and J.J. Moore drained three treys for the
Panthers (3-1), who made 49 percent of their shots from the floor despite
Gibbs' 3-for-15 shooting night. He did scored 14 points in the win.

"God win for us against a good team," said Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon.
"I think La Salle has very good guard play and good inside guys. There are a
lot of things we can improve on and I think that is exciting for me. I'm
looking forward to what we can become."

Earl Pettis led La Salle (2-2) with 22 points and five steals, while Devon
White and Sam Mills each scored 12. Leading scorer Tyreek Duren was held to
nine points to go along with five assists.

"We are very frustrated, because we think if we did a couple things
differently, we would have had a chance to win the game and that means a lot.
Pitt is a great opponent and this is a very difficult place to play, so this
was a game that we really wanted badly," said Explorers head coach Dr. John
Giannini.

The Explorers came all of the way back to square the contest at 52-52 on
Pettis' jumper with just over eight minutes to play, and Steve Zack's free
throw actually put the Atlantic 10 underdog in front with 7:45 showing.

The Panthers quickly regained their footing with Robinson's layup and Moore's
three, and the 9-0 run in all was capped by Robinson's free throw with just
under 4 1/2 minutes on the clock. La Salle picked a bad time to go cold from
the floor, going four minutes without a field goal until Mills' trey cut the
margin to 61-56.

The lead again grew to just under double figures, 65-56, but Pittsburgh
couldn't quite seal the deal. A three-point play by Duren sliced the margin to
68-64 and Pettis' layup in transition made it a one-possession game.

Again, the margin stood at six, but Pettis drained a contested trey for a
72-69 game with 44 ticks to go. La Salle had its chances late, but Mills
missed a layup attempt with nine seconds left, and Taylor sealed the game with
1-of-2 from the charity stripe.

The Panthers scored the game's first six points, and La Salle didn't convert a
field goal until Duren's bucket nearly 3 1/2 minutes in. The home team pushed
its edge to 18-8 on the second of two consecutive treys off Moore's right
hand. Robinson's layup made the score 23-12, but the Explores dominated
the half's final six minutes.

Six straight from Jerrell Wright and Pettis' jumper narrowed the deficit
to
24-22 with just over two minutes to play. Pittsburgh scored the next four, but
buckets by Wright and Mills for La Salle in the final 35 seconds again drew
the visitors within two, 28-26.

Pittsburgh tried to run away in the second half, taking a nine-point edge,
45-36, on Khem Birch's slam with just under 14 1/2 minutes left, but the pesky
Explorers hung tough. Trailing 48-38, the visitors put eight quick points on
the scoreboard, capped by Mills' trey and two free throws from Pettis.

Game Notes

Gibbs came into the game averaging 21.7 points per game...La Salle made just
4-of-16 from beyond the arc...This game marked just the second meeting between
the two programs...Pittsburgh held a 42-24 rebounding advantage.